stakeholders“>Stakeholders in the education sector have called on Nigerian Universities to prioritize research that addresses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasizing the role of academia in driving national growth through innovation and problem-solving.
Stressing the link between research and national growth, she called for Swift action to translate research findings into effective policies that promote innovation, diversity, and sustainable development.
This was disclosed by the Pioneer Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Lafia, Nassarawa State, Professor Ekanem Braide, while delivering the BOWEN University Convocation Lecture on Friday in Iwo, Osun State.
She disclosed that apart from being listed as a prerequisite to achieving the SDGs goals, education, she said, is the most critical element towards realizing the goals.
Her words:
“If education is gotten right, achievement of the SDGs will progress fast and poverty will be reduced. If education is not given appropriate attention, it will be a matter of motion without movement, going from where we were to where we were. Recall that poverty is cyclically interrelated with problems of underdevelopment”.
While emphasizing the importance of education to the development of any society, she said the University must have an impact on every sphere of the society.
Universities should encourage the setting up of a National Research Foundation and Research Data Bank, and all universities must be members of this movement to speed up the actualization of the National Research Foundation.
“There must be a positive impact of the presence of a University in the host community, if a university exists in a location and the location remains unchanged then the University in not fulfilling its mandate, University should alive some of the cross-cutting problems of its host community”
Apart from enhancing the ranking of the University, community service reduces conflict, addresses economic and social needs of communities, builds staff and students’ leadership qualities, and provides opportunities for staff as well as students to showcase their talent and touch the lives of many in the community.
“For Universities to be effective engine of knowledge and driver of development, it must encourage stakeholders“>stakeholders joint participation
which includes government, the academia, the community and the industry to encourage research translation”
She emphasized the urgent need to align research outcomes with policy and practice, ensuring that innovation and diversity play a central role in driving national development.
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